Collegium decides to drop Justice Dinakaran

Ending months of uncertainty, the Supreme Court collegium is understood to have decided to withdraw its recommendation to elevate Karnataka High Court Chief Justice P.D. Dinakaran to the Supreme Court.

The collegium, led by Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan and including Justices S.H. Kapadia, Tarun Chatterjee, Altamas Kabir and R.V. Raveendran, at its brief meeting, decided to drop Justice Dinakaran’s name. The Law Ministry had rejected the August 27 recommendation of the collegium and asked it to reconsider the decision.

According to informed sources, the Ministry on Tuesday submitted another report to the CJI on the allegations of land encroachment levelled against Justice Dinakaran as reflected in the two reports of the Collector of Tiruvallur in Tamil Nadu.

The latest report, the sources say, is also not favourable to Justice Dinakaran.

The collegium meeting was held in the backdrop of an impeachment motion presented by 75 Rajya Sabha members to Chairman Hamid Ansari seeking removal of Justice Dinakaran. The motion has since been admitted.

Under the Memorandum of Procedure of Appointments, the final say on appointment or elevation of judges is with the collegium.

It all started with lawyers under the auspices of the Forum for Judicial Accountability sending petitions to the CJI levelling serious charges against Justice Dinakaran of land grab and other “irregularities” and amassing of wealth disproportionate to the known sources of his income.

It was alleged that at Kaverirajapuram in Tiruttani taluk alone “the extent of lands possessed by the judge is approximately 500 acres.” The CJI asked the Collector to verify the allegations and send a report.